Connector supporting housing cover



y 7, 1964 E. KOHLER ETAL 3,140,140

CONNECTOR SUPPORTING HOUSING COVER Filed March 21, 1962 ,5 zLmmu mmm /5q5 ffa INVENRDIPS: 5mm Mdfer f/GIJ- Dicfir flnareas Bra/liner rm-44 rrev-4e,

United States Patent CONNECTOR UPPORTING HOUSING COVER Ernst Kohler,Hofingen, Kreis Leonberg, Hans-Dieter Bastarn, Stuttgart, and AndreasBrantner, Stuttgart- Feuerbach, Germany, assignors to Robert BoschG.m.b.H., Stuttgart, Germany Filed Mar. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 181,289Claims priority, application Germany Mar. 23, 1961 7 Claims. (Cl.339218) The present invention relates to a connector supporting housingcover, and more particularly to a cover or cap for the housing of anelectric coil, particularly of an ignition coil of the type used forcombustion engines. Covers or caps for this purpose are made of aninsulating material in which connectors are permanently embedded so thatconductors can be attached to connector parts on the outside of thecover or cap, while the ends of the coil in the housing are attached toparts of the connectors located on the inside of the cover or cap.

In accordance with the prior art, the connectors are set in the properrelative position in a suitable mold or die, and the insulating materialis then pressed in the mold to surround the connectors which are thuspermanently embedded in the pressed insulator body.

The proper positioning, and fixing of the connectors in the press moldin such a manner that they are not displaced during the pressingoperation, is a difficult, time consuming, and consequently expensiveoperation.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a connectorsupporting housing cover which can be manufactured at low cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a connectorsupporting housing cover with connectors set into openings of aninsulator body, and permanently anchored in the same.

The cover preferably comprises an insulator body with at least onenon-circular opening, a connector means of non-circular configurationlocated in the opening and matching the same so as to be non-turnable,and a material placed in said opening while in a deformable conditionand being in a rigid condition so that the connector means is anchoredin the material.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating a pressedinsulator body which is used for a housing cover in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a connector according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the connector shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 4-4 in FIG. 5, andillustrating a connector supporting housing cover in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side view, partly in section on line 5-5 in FIG.4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on line 6--6 in FIG.5.

Referring now to the drawings, the cover body 10 consists of a pressedinsulating material, for example of Bakelite. As best seen in FIG. 1,insulator body 10 has a central projecting part 11 in which a connector,not shown, may be permanently embedded for the purpose of supplying ahigh voltage to a coil, not shown, in a housing 20 to which theinsulator body 10 is later secured, as shown in FIG. 4.

Two diametrically arranged openings or recesses 12 are formed in theinsulator body 10. Openings 12 are noncircular, and include asubstantially semi-circular part, and two slot portions 16, as best seenin FIG. 6. Each opening or recess 12 has a cylindrical portion 15extending from the bottom thereof. Corresponding cylindrical recesses15a extend from the bottom face of the pressed insulator body and areseparated by thin wall portions from the cylindrical recesses 15. Thediameter of recess portions 15 and the width of slots 16 are smallerthan the major dimensions of recesses 12.

A connector means in accordance with the present invention is shown inFIGS. 2 and 3. The drawing is made on an enlarged scale and theconnectors are actually much smaller. Each connector includes a tubularpart 13 of circular cross section which fits into openings 15, and aconnector part 14 in the form of a plate whose upper part is bent at anangle to the lower part thereof. The lower part of connector 14 haspressed projections 14' which embrace the tubular part 13 and aretightly bent against the same so that connector parts 13 and 14 arefixedly connected.

The projecting parts 14 have an outline corresponding to the outline ofthe main portion of openings 12, while the lower portion of plates 14matches the slot portions 16 of opening 12. When connector means 13, 14,14 are placed in the openings 12, 15, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, thelower portion of the tubular part 13 fits into opening 15 so that theconnector means is supported in a position in which the lower portion ofconnector part 14, and the projecting parts 14' are substantiallyuniformly spaced from the inner surface of opening 12 and slot portions16. The bent upper portions of connector parts 14 are located outside ofopenings 12.

Due to the non-circular outline of connector part 14, the connectorcannot turn substantially in the non-circular opening 12, 16.

When two connector means have been set in openings 15, 12, 16, theopenings 12, 15 are filled with epoxy resin in a deformable condition sothat the connectors 13, 14, are permanently anchored in the insulatorbody 10 when the resin solidifies. Since the projections 14'transversely project in the openings, and are located below the upperedge of the openings 12, they are covered by the resin, as best seen inFIG. 5, so that it is not possible to lift the connectors out of theopenings 12.

When the connector supporting housing cover is thus completed, the thinwalls between openings 15 and 15a are removed by drilling from the innersurface of the cover, so that the wire ends of conductors 18 can beinsented into the tubular connector parts 13, and soldered to the topend of the same. Conductor 18 may lead to the ends of a coil located inthe housing 20 whose upper edge portion is crimped about a flangeportion of insulator body 10 so that an air and liquid tightconstruction of the housing is obtained. In this assembled position ofthe device, recesses 12, 15 and 15a form an opening through theinsulator body 10 which has a wider portion 12 on one side of the bodyand a narrower portion 15, 15a on the other side.

Since the connectors are permanently secured to the insulator body 10after the same has been pressed, the difficult operation of setting theconnector bodies in the press mold before insulator body 10 is pressed,is eliminated.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconnector supporting insulating bodies differing from the typesdescribed above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in ahousing cover comprising a pressed insulator body, and connectorsembedded in the same,

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it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since variousmodifications and structural changes may be made without departing inany way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A housing cover comprising, in combination an insulator cover bodyhaving a plurality of openings, each opening having a cylindricalportion and a non-circular portion; a plurality of connector meanslocated in said openings, each connector means including a tubular partlocated in said cylindrical portion and a non-circular part located insaid non-circular portion of the respective opening and matching thesame so that said connector means is non-turnable in the respectiveopening; and an insulating material having a condition adapted to beplaced in said opening about said connector means and a rigid condition,and being located in said openings in said rigid condition so that saidconnector means are anchored by said projecting means in said insulatorcover body.

2. A housing cover comprising, in combination, an insulator body havinga plurality of openings, each opening having a cylindrical portion and anon-circular slot portion; a plurality of connector means located insaid openings, each connector means including a tubular part located insaid cylindrical portion and a plate part having projecting means atleast partly embracing said tubular part, said plate part being locatedin said non-circular slot portion of the respective openings andmatching the same so that said connector means is non-turnable in therespective opening, said projecting means transversely projecting in therespective opening; and an insulating material having a conditionadapted to be placed in said opening about said connector means and arigid condition, and being located in said openings in said rigidcondition so that said connector means are anchored by said projectingmeans in said insulator cover body.

3. A housing cover comprising, in combination, an insulator body havinga plurality of openings, each opening having a cylindrical portion and anon-circular slot portion; a plurality of connector means located insaid openings, each connector means including a tubular part located insaid cylindrical portion and a plate part having projecting means atleast partly embracing said tubular part, said plate part being locatedin said non-circular slot portion of the respective openings andmatching the same so that said connector means is non-turnable in therespective opening, said projecting means transversely projecting in therespective opening; each plate part having a connector portion bent awayfrom said tubular part and projecting out of the respective openings soas to be adapted to be connected to a conductor; and an insulat- 4, ingmaterial having a condition adapted to be placed in said opening aboutsaid connector means and a rigid condition and being located in saidopenings in said rigid condition so that said connector means areanchored by said projecting means in said insulator cover body.

4. A housing cover as claimed in claim 3 wherein said non-circularportion of each opening extends to the outer surface of the cover, andwherein said cylindrical portion of each opening extends to the innersurface of said cover; and a wire connector passing into saidcylindrical portion and through said tubular part, and being secured tothe latter.

5. A housing cover as set forth in claim 3 wherein said projecting meansof said plate part includes a pair of bent projecting portions of saidplate part tightly embracing said tubular part for holding the same in aposition abutting said plate part; and a soldered connection securingsaid tubular part to said projecting portions.

6. In a device of the type described, in combination, a pressedinsulator body formed with at least one recess having a cylindricalportion and a non-circular portion; a connector means having a tubularpart located in said cylindrical portion, and a non-circular partlocated in said non-circular portion of said opening and matching thesame so as to be non-turnable; and a material located in said openingand embedding said non-circular part of said connector means so that thesame is permanently secured to said insulator body, said connector meanshaving a part projecting from one side of said insulator body andadapted to be connected to a first conductor and said tubular part beingadapted to receive a second conductor passing through said cylindricalportion of said opening into said tubular part.

7. In a device of the type described, in combination, an insulator bodyformed with at least one opening having a narrower portion and a widerportion located on opposite sides of said insulator body, at least oneof said portions being non-circular; an a connector means having a firstpart fitting into said narrow portion and a second part located in saidwider portion of said opening, said first part of said connector meansbeing located in said narrower portion of said opening and supportingsaid connector means in a position in which said second part thereof isspaced from the inner surface of said wider portion of said opening; anda material having a rigid condition and deformable condition adapted tobe placed in said wider portion of said opening about said second partof said connector means, and being located in said wider portion of saidopening in said rigid condition so that said connector means is anchoredand permanently embedded in said insulator body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,436,852 Carmichael et a1 Mar. 2, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 776,391 FranceOct. 31, 1934 406,881 Italy Aug. 1, 1944 106,640 Switzerland Sept. 1,1924

1. A HOUSING COVER COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION AN INSULATOR COVER BODYHAVING A PLURALITY OF OPENINGS, EACH OPENING HAVING A CYLINDRICALPORTION AND A NON-CIRCULAR PORTION; A PLURALITY OF CONNECTOR MEANSLOCATED IN SAID OPENINGS, EACH CONNECTOR MEANS INCLUDING A TUBULAR PARTLOCATED IN SAID CYLINDRICAL PORTION AND A NON-CIRCULAR PART LOCATED INSAID NON-CIRCULAR PORTION OF THE RESPECTIVE OPENING AND MATCHING THESAME SO THAT SAID CONNECTOR MEANS IS NON-TURNABLE IN THE RESPECTIVEOPENING; AND AN INSULATING MATERIAL HAVING A CONDITION ADAPTED TO BEPLACED IN SAID OPENING ABOUT SAID CONNECTOR MEANS AND A RIGID CONDITION,AND BEING LOCATED IN SAID OPENINGS IN SAID RIGID CONDITION SO THAT SAIDCONNECTOR MEANS ARE ANCHORED BY SAID PROJECTING MEANS IN SAID INSULATORCOVER BODY.